Thursday, 3 May 2012

Let the bee be: Action at Bayer, Norwich

This picture of a remarkable direct-action demo at Bayer earlier this week has just come to my attention. According to the documentary film, THE VANISHING OF THE BEES, which I have just seen, Bayer's 'technology' is probably partly responsible for the terrifying mass die-offs of bees in the USA and other countries (including the UK). This as I understand it is the reason that lay behind what happened at Bayer Norwich the other night.
Congratulations to those who managed to raise this banner drawing attention to the situation, at Bayer!

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Here is a press release from the group who did this, that has come into my hands:

A group of eco art students recently took time out from their busy preparation for exams by taking a trip to visit the Bayer Crop Science Factory Site on Sweet Briar Rd.

They felt it was time to show Bayer that they cannot continue with their insane production of a group of pesticides known as ‘neonicotinoid pesticides’ that have, again and again, been cited as a massive contributing factor to the serious decline and in some cases collapse of Bee populations worldwide.

For instance… In early 2008 between 330 and 500 million bees were killed in the Western part of Germany (Rheintal), apparently by Bayer’s Clothianidin pesticide, which had been applied as a dressing to amize seed. More than 7000 beekeepers rang up the German Bee Keepers Union to report total losses.

Countries like Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia have already banned the use of these pesticides but in the UK, although beekeepers have regularly reported 30% losses regulatory action is yet to be taken.

The same is true in the US where massive declines have been reported since 2006. In 2003 in the US when licenses (for this group of pesticides) were granted the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) did warn of potential harm to bees but Bayer narrowly won the license (with the help of an environmental report that they had funded).

The consequences of massive declines in Bee populations (and what is known as Colony Collapse Disorder) would not just be the loss of Haagen Dazs yoghurt. According to the UN, of the 100 crop species which provide 90% of global food, 71 are pollinated by bees. Do we really want to lose a huge chunk of our food supply? Do we really need this problem on top of the upcoming crisis that man-made climate change represents? 90% of plants in the wild need bees in order to thrive. Without bees many of our food crops and plants would simply die off. Do we really want to live in a world without flowers?

One member of the group Mr B Hive said “We wanted to do something creative that would act as a symbol to draw people’s attention to this massive issue. I hope others will do something too both to help the plight of the bees and show companies like Bayer that they can no longer act in this way unchecked by intense and creative public opposition. Hopefully our actions will create a buzz! ”

An intelligent man once said

“If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”

This picture of a remarkable direct-action demo at Bayer earlier this week has just come to my attention. According to the documentary film, THE VANISHING OF THE BEES, which I have just seen, Bayer's 'technology' is probably partly responsible for the terrifying mass die-offs of bees in the USA and other countries (including the UK). This as I understand it is the reason that lay behind what happened at Bayer Norwich the other night.
Congratulations to those who managed to raise this banner drawing attention to the situation, at Bayer!